So Mike and I were able to get away this weekend and head to good Ol' Eau Claire (thanks sister and kurt for letting us crash!) . My cousin was getting married and it was the perfect excuse to get back to that city that I sometimes really miss. We were able to squeeze quite a few things into the weekend too. We went out Friday night so Mike could meet up with a friend. How could I have not taken a picture or video?? Helium voice karoke to "I'm too sexy"???? Yeah, why didn't I have my camera with me? And Angie and Holly.....how could I have forgotten that I had my camera in my purse. So sad we didn't get at least one pic. Anyways, here's a few that I did.

It's my little Ally. Miss her muchos. It was nice to see she was just as excited to see me as I was her :)
This is Pugsley, Kurt's dog. He'd probably be ashamed if he knew I put this picture on here.

We did the ever imformative and a little underwhelming Leinenkugel's tour. Who wants to go on a beer tour when you don't even get to see the stuff being bottled? Hello. I so wanted to live my Laverne and Sherlie fantasy.

We even managed to head to the local "free zoo" that I didn't even know existed. (Black bear, cougars, capuchens, elk, bison, etc. wow) Check out the way that Lemur is sitting. I think he might have osteoporosis.

Mike pointing at his favorite bit. Black Bear poop.

On second thought, maybe this was his favorite. The cougars. Mike. We already have enough cats.

My beautiful cousins, Megan and Kasie. They stood up in the wedding.

And finally, Tola, the party man (he's not, and that wasn't even his beer).

Thanks Angie and Dave, Holly, and Heidi and Luke for meeting us for lunch and the packer game. I caught myself smiling for no reason while you were there with us. Thanks again. Miss you's already!

I have been waiting YEARS to have my very own space to do my scrapping. Years. Now, here it is. I have my own spot where I can work and not have to pick everything up, put it back and haul it into another room. Beyond excited about this. We were going to try and squeeze my twin size bed into this room but after much consideration we decided this was just going to be our office. When we finally made the decision, it was time to put up my new shelf and mike's new map.LOVE THIS SHELF. Oh, and yeah, I heart my ricky gervais picture in the middle. Imagine that. I've still got to fill the drawers and label the outsides, but already SO MUCH better.


I want to run right home and start making some things! Now I've just got to find a space for my sewing machine and all my knitting stuff....

I made this:
Wait, let me show it to you on a better model:
It's my hooded scarf! Or as the pattern called it, The Grownup Bonnet. Whatever it is, I think its kinda cute and it was fun to make. Now i'm off onto my next project...making garland for our Christmas tree. I'm pretty excited about this. Yee to finishing projects!!!

Well here it is. And there's my soup pot. The sawhorse and drywall in all its glory :) Oh and don't forget the table saw table and the plastic drop cloths.
This is the wall that disappeared. This was like the third step in demo. While he was tearing down the wall, underneath he found what was probably the old siding to the house. There was a little addition on here and they apparently just sheetrocked right over the siding.
There's the last little piece. That's gone now though. This is where the little breakfast bar thing is going to be. So basically there will be a little wall like that with a counter on top. Next step, replacing the window?
While it is a mess, it already feels a bit easier to deal with than the old kitchen. With that wall gone it really opens the place up. Unfortunately right now it opens up to the mess that is the house, but in time it'll open up to a beautiful brand new kitchen. Mike worked his little heart out.

But I'm making it anyways. I'm going to make some chicken wild rice soup tonight and do my best to rush the fall season upon us. Later on, I'll post some pictures of the kitchen I made it in. Pretty awesome. I'm going to try and make a bunch so I can freeze it and have containers for yummy lunches one day (I'm getting sick of peanut butter and jelly and 100 cal snack bags). So if anyone wants some...I'll have a whole pot full. The only catch is you have to come visit me for some.

So Mike took today, friday and he has the weekend and monday off....all to work on the kitchen. It's exciting stuff. He hasn't had that much time off all together since he started the house renovation. I think today its getting the last few things out of the kitchen and plasticing off the ceiling. At least I think that's what he's doing. All I know for sure is that I'm excited that the work is beginning in the kitchen. I guess we'll probably be grilling a lot in the future :) Yummmmm. Wish Mike luck!